Improvement in automatic gates



n. cLAnv. l A u t o mati c- G tes.

Patentedlan. 13, 1874.

.'UlvrruD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL C LARY, OF MARSHALL, MICHIGAN.

lmpnovEMaN'r 1N AuToMA-nc GATES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 146,317, dated January 13, 1874 application filed March 11, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, DANIEL CLARY, of Marshall, in the county of Calhoun and State of Michigan, have invented certain Improve ments in Automatic Gates, of which the following is a speciiication:

My improvements relate to gates of that class which are made to open by the passage of the wheels of an approaching vehicle over a wheel-iron situated in the roadway, said wheel-iron being connected with the lower hinge of the gate by means of a rod or wire. The present invention consists in the construction of the lower hinge with a double set of inclines of peculiar form, whereby the gate, when it is unlatched and commences to swing, operates only on the upper incline until the momentum thus acquired brings the lower series of inclines into operation to complete the opening movement of the gate and secure itin that position.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a gate embodying my improvements. Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5 are enlarged views of the lower hipge, showing the position of the inclines when the gate is closed and when it is opened, and at intermediate points. Fig. 6 is a side view of the wheeLircn detached.

v'Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in the several figures.

The gate-posts A Al A2 are placed as at the angles of a triangle, and the gate B, which may be of any suitable construction, is hung to the central post. The upper hinge a may be of the ordinary kindthat is, ,a pintle fixed in the post passing through an eye secured to the rear end of the gate. Any other construction may be used which will permit the free vertical movement which is required in the operation of gates of this class. The lower hinge consists of a bracket, b secured to the post A1, a bracket, c, attached to the gate, and a piece, d, tted into the two brackets, and having connected with it one end of the wire e, which extends to the wheel-iron j'. The bracket b is formed with a cylindrical socket, the upper edge of which is composed of a series of inclines, t i, with an intervening notch, o. Into this bracket fits the piece d, its lower edge being formed with inclines corresponding to those on the lower bracket, but without the notch. The-piece d is made with a disk, g, to which the rod or wiree is attached, which connects the hinge with the wheel-.iron f; and

t above this disk is formed a boss having an inclined surface, h. A stem, j, extends entirely through the piece d, and projects both above and below it, the lower portion passing down into the socket in bracket b, while that above is tted to receive the bracket c, as shownA more particularly in Figs. l, 4, and 5. This bracket c consists of a flat plate with an y eye at its upper end and a projection at its lower extremity, which is provided with a central orifice for the passage of the stem j, and an inclined lower surface, k, corresponding to that marked h on the piece d, with which it is in contact. .The wheeliron f is in the form of an inverted L. It is made with a cross-piece at the top for contact with the tread of the wheel,

and is pivoted at the angle, as shown in Fig. 6, in a boxing located at any suitable point in the road-bed, and somewhat below the surface of the same, as usual. The connecting-wire e extends from the extremity of the short arm of the wheel-iron through embedded boxing to the rim of the disk gof the lower hinge, where it is secured at one side. y

It will be observed that, by the construction and arrangement I have described, the wheel-` t iron is made to stand vertical, or nearly so, ready to be operated in either direction, and also that a very light rod or wire can be used to connect the hinge to the wheel-iron, because the latter always operates by drawing instead a is closed and latched, as represented by the y i full lines in Fig. 1,the position of the parts of j the lower hinge is as shown in Fig. 2, and the wheel-iron stands vertical, or nearly so. The

passage of the wheel of an approaching vehicle over the wheel-iron from either direction,

causes the depression of the iron toward a horizontal position, and thus a draft on the connecting-wire is exerted whichV causes a par tial revolution of the piece d, and its conse4 quent elevation and engagement with the notch o of the lower bracket, as in Fig. 3. This partial rotation and elevation of the piece d also lifts the gate by the act-ion of the upper inclined contact surfaces, and thus disengages the latch. The entire weight of the gate is now on the upper inclined surface la, and, ot' course, the immediate tendency and effect are the descent and simultaneous outward swingin g of the gate, which continue until the hinge attains the position shown in Fig. 4;r and, at this point, the momentum of the gate disengages the piece d from the notch in the lower bracket, and permits the descent of said piece on the inclines in said bracket until the gate comes to rest, open, and fastened back to the post A2, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1. In this open condition of the gate, the parts of the lower hinge occupy the relative positions illustrated in Fig. 5.

The operation of closing the gate is the reverse of that just described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let Vters Patent, is-

ruary, A. D. 1873.

DANIEL GLARY.

Witnesses Y OTTO LEE JOHNSON, C. T. GooK. 

